Creator: Rencher, Abraham, 1798-1883.
Collection number: 627
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Abstract: Rencher was a lawyer, Governor of the New Mexico Territory, 1857-1861, U.S. minister to Portugal, and U.S. Representative from North Carolina. The bulk of the collection consists of papers of Rencher while U. S. charge d’affaires in Lisbon, 1843-1847, including letters home, diplomatic correspondence, and accounts, and letters from his brother, Daniel G. Rencher of Alabama, 1838-1858, discussing family and plantation news. There are also letters to and from Rencher while he was governor of the New Mexico Territory, 1857-1861, correspondence and financial receipts relating to the mining industry in New Mexico, and scattered other political and family items.
Repository: Southern Historical Collection
Collection Highlights: Several letters, particularly between 1838-1858, discuss enslaved individuals (particularly on Daniel Rencher’s plantation in Alabama). Three letters from 1851 in Folder 4 (14 June, 24 June, and 16 July) discuss the purchase of an enslaved man named Arch who had apparently been falsely accused of trying to poison another enslaved person. Other letters in Folder 5 discuss sickness among enslaved individuals (8 May 1857), the purchase price of enslaved men and women, and the death of an enslaved little girl ((4 January 1858)